Malaysian Oil Rig Deploys RFID

May 7, 2010

I wonder if they’ll put RFID scanners in the living quarters, smoko room and the galley entrance?

Taken from RFID Journal:

Malaysian Oil Rig Deploys RFID for Man-Down Monitoring

Axcess International developed the system, which features personnel badges containing active RFID tags and motion sensors to detect if a worker stops moving.

Apr. 28, 2010—An oil company that asked to remain unnamed has begun installing an RFID-based “Man-Down” monitoring and locating system on an oil-drilling platform in Malaysia. The firm plans to soon begin providing badges to its dozens of high-risk workers for each shift on the platform, to track when they become inactive, possibly indicating injury. Axcess International Inc. developed the system specifically for this customer, based on its own existing DotWireless technology, but is now offering it to other oil companies, as well as those in other industries, such as mining, says Axcess’ CEO, Allan Griebenow.

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Developments – Limbang and Oil Claims

May 6, 2010

A summary of accusations and confusion clarifications on the above topic. But notice Murphy has been keeping quiet.

From AP via Google, dateline 2010-04-02:

Malaysia’s PETRONAS, Brunei to develop oil blocks

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysian national oil company PETRONAS said Saturday that it is in talks with Brunei to jointly develop two offshore oil reserves off Borneo island after the two nations ended a long-standing spat over ownership of the areas.

Both Malaysia and Brunei awarded exploration contracts in 2003 to parts of an undersea site off Borneo with potentially large oil reserves. But exploration activities have since stalled because the countries discovered that some of the areas overlap.

From The Star, dateline 2010-04-02:

Pak Lah dismisses Dr M’s claims he gave away oil-rich areas to Brunei

PUTRAJAYA: Former Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi has dismissed former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s allegation that he had given away two oil-rich areas to Brunei in 2009 in exchange for Brunei dropping its claims on Limbang in Sarawak.

In a statement, he said that regarding the maritime area, Malaysia and Brunei agreed to establish a final and permanent sea boundary in an exchange of letters on March 16, 2009 aimed at settling the boundary issues between the two nations.

From the Sun (no, not that Sun), dateline 2010-05-02 (kinda slow to report, aren’t they?):

Mahathir queries loss of USD100 billion in deal to reclaim Limbang

KUALA LUMPUR (April 30, 2010): Former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has taken to task Wisma Putra and his successor Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for the loss of USD100 billion (RM320 billion) of Malaysia’s oil in a deal with Brunei to get back Limbang.

In a posting on his blog titled “Malaysia’s generosity” which quoted reports in The Edge Financial Daily, The Edge and the Brunei Times, Mahathir said a substantial oil producing offshore area in the South China Sea, namely Block L and Block M, are no longer a part of Malaysia. In an immediate response carried by news portals Abdullah dismissed Mahathir’s allegation. He said Malaysia and Brunei agreed to establish a final and permanent sea boundary in an exchange of letters on March 16, 2009 aimed at settling the boundary issues between the two nations, including overlapping claims over the two blocks. He said though sovereign rights to the resources belong to Brunei, Malaysia will be allowed to participate, on a commercial basis, to jointly develop the oil and gas resources in this area for a period of 40 years.

And on Tun’s blog deadline 2010-04-29:

1. The Edge Financial Daily, an article by Joseph Chin (The Edge, April 22nd) as well as Brunei Times reported a substantial oil producing offshore area in the South China Sea, namely Block L and Block M, were no longer a part of Malaysia.

2. Malaysians and the Malaysian media did not ask how this came about. It would seem that the loss of a huge oil producing area that had apparently belonged to Malaysia is okay.

3. Block L and Block M had been claimed by Malaysia based on historical facts. Accordingly, Petronas entered into a production sharing contract with Murphy Oil to start drilling to produce oil. It is estimated that the reserves amounted to almost 1 billion barrels.

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The SOGE Story – Kemasik Upgraded

May 5, 2010

I was in Kerteh recently on a business trip. I dropped by at Pantai Kemasik, and took a few photos to show you rookies some of the attractions of Kerteh, and to show veterans what they have done to spruce up the place. The indigenous keropok lekor can be found in the gerai’s of old.

Strangely, I didn’t see any signs saying that PETRONAS helped in the upgrade. Doesn’t their ringgit flow south of Mesra Mall?

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Saturday Star 2010-05-01 – Job Opportunities

May 3, 2010

Commercial note: I’m monetizing this site, so support me by purchasing my recommendations, or buying from my Amazon store.

And now, on with our regular show.

  • My office is looking for part-time admin staff. Call Ibrahim at +603-56371015.
  • Ah, Murphy, Murphy, the stalwart of the hiring pages. They are looking for an auditor (that’s a position open for abuse, Snr Rotating Engineer, Snr Facilities Eng (hey, I didn’t know someone was leaving), Junior Subsea Eng, Petroleum Eng. Send your applications here.
  • SABIC is looking for people, and they are darn tootin’ doing it by having walk-in interviews. Let’s see, they are looking for Snr Eng (Centrifugal & Steam Turbines), Snr Eng (Screw), Snr Eng (Blowers and Pumps), Reliability Eng (no need, send your sole source RFQs to Synergy), and other similar positions. Walk-in interviews are at the Hyatt Regency, Pahang (3 June), J W Marriot KL (4 June), Renaissance Melaka (5 June), Park Everly Hotel Bintulu (6 June). You can apply via email here or here. Or key in your resumes online here. Mention to your interviewer I sent you.
  • I see that QatarGas is looking for people, and I see that the advert targets our Indonesian cousins. They are looking for Snr Resv Eng, Resv Eng, Snr Corrosion Eng. Apply here. or snail mail to PT NES Global Technical Consultant, c/o CEO Suite, One Pacific Place (Kidzania!) Sudirman Central Business District, 15th Floor, Jl. Jend. Sudirman Kav. 52-5, Jakarta 12190, Indonesia.

No food recommendations photos this week. Lunch on Saturday was provided at Agrotek Resort Hulu Langat, near my parents place. Write ups of the place can be found here, here. Go visit the place. In an example of ‘so near, yet so far’, there are no phone and power lines to the place, yet it’s off jalan Hulu Langat, go figure. Contact number is +60192716994.

At some point in my reading career, I got interested in the historical side of mathematics. Examples of such books of this genre are Men of Mathematics, Journey through Genius: The Great Theorems of Mathematics, Archimedes to Hawking: Laws of Science and the Great Minds Behind Them.

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Murphy Oil block interests off Malaysia terminated

May 2, 2010

Is this old news? I haven’t heard anyone, Murphy or otherwise, moaning about lost opportunities. Now, does PETRONAS have to pay them for the loss of opportunity and sunken costs to date? And will they pay damages to us small contractors? And will that cost be then transfered to the rakyat?

Taken from the Oil & Gas Journal, dateline 2010-04-22:

LOS ANGELES, Apr. 22 — Murphy Oil Corp.’s interests in Blocks L and M off Malaysia have been terminated after resolution of a dispute with Brunei over control of the assets.

Murphy was informed by state-owned PETORNAS that the two blocks are no longer a part of the country following an agreement between Malaysia and the Sultanate of Brunei.

Murphy said its potential participation in replacement production-sharing contracts (PSCs) covering these areas is “under discussion.”

The announcement follows recent reports that the two southeast Asian countries are trying to implement an agreement made in March 2009 to establish a commercial arrangement area.

That agreement ended a dispute that erupted in 2003 when PETRONAS and Murphy were awarded two offshore leases, SB L and SB M. The blocks overlapped with Brunei’s Blocks J and K, which had been awarded to Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.

In a recent report, the Economist Intelligence Unit noted that Brunei and Malaysia are “inching closer towards resolving their border disputes.”

EIU noted in particular that “agreement on the land border could pave the way for a deal on the maritime border that would allow both countries to benefit from the discovery of new oil and gas deposits.”

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Observations – MOGSC 2010-2012 Election Process

April 28, 2010

Congratulations to the new office bearers of the Malaysian Oil & Gas Services Council (MOGSC to friends) session 2010-2012. I look forward to better times for the industry in general and me in particular as the new line up steers us into the economic recovery period. As it was my first time attending the AGM on 22nd April, 2010 (we finally pawned our photocopier to pay for the membership fees), here are my thoughts.

Let’s open with a disturbing one. The nomination list was provided in the AGM package that was sent out. According to MOGSC rules, no further nominations could be accepted as the nomination period was closed.

So far, so good. However, on the day of the AGM, the Election Officer (was he appointed on the spot, or was he pre-selected?) asked THE FLOOR to vote on whether a new nomination for the Presidency candidate, which was received during the AGM itself, was to be accepted. Only one member stood up and questioned the legality of this move. In the end, as the psuedo-candidate wasn’t around (it was his staff who represented him), the Election Officer decided that the new nomination to be null and void.

Too bad, if that nomination was accepted, I would have thrown my own hat into the ring. And if this was a political election, it would have made front page news (“Election Officer ignores Constitution, Crowd Sources a Decision.”)

Okay, new topic. I thought the use of coloured slips to indicate which position the vote is for is unique. I would have put some tracking numbers on the top to ensure individuality, or at least a stamp indicating authenticity. With camera phones, you could have snapped a photo, got someone in KLCC to purchase the same colour slips, and voila, rigged election.

Speaking of rigged, why were there so many people round the counting table? During the counting for Exco members, I counted 9 people round the table. If you allow for 1 election officer and 2 scrutineers, that means 6 people were counting votes from about 80 representatives. Too many, wouldn’t you say?

Oh, and to vote, the election officer required you to write the full name of the candidate on the slip. Most other voting processes require you to make a mark in a box, next to a picture of a box, a pencil, Barney, an 8008, whatever. So, I guess the election officer can decide what constitutes a ‘full name’ and accept or reject the vote?

I disliked the idea that the tally of the votes was written down on a board. This is meant to be a friendly vote. I don’t think the idea was to embarrass a candidate with insufficient support so that they will not be nominated again. Leave that to the political parties please, where crushing your opponent is a goal of the process.

And after all that, I hope that I won’t be banned from next year’s AGM. The food was just too good.

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IEM Shout Out – Risk Based Inspection

April 27, 2010

This is a shout out for the IEM. My Technical Division will hosting a course on the 4th and 5th May, 2010. You’ll get to visit TNB’s Intergrated Learning Solution – ILSAS at Bangi in addition to getting 13 CPD points.

The RBI course is designed in accordance with the American Petroleum Institute (API) based resource document 581, API recommended practice (RP) 580.

The Speaker, Ian Partridge, is TWI Ltd’s Principal Project Leader, Equipment Risk Consulting  – Conducting Life Assessment, Failure Investigations, Fitness-for-Service Assessments for various Oil and Gas and Power Generation installations. Development and  validation of Fitness-For-Service procedures for international standards and best practice guidance.

Representation of TWI Ltd. on various international standards committees. Assessments include creep, general corrosion, locally thinned areas, pitting corrosion, fatigue,fracture, blisters and laminations.

Flyers for the above and other events may be obtained here.

I appeal to readers, come on and send yourselves and staff to these courses. I need the support.

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The SOGE Story – Another Photosynth

April 25, 2010

Another Photosynth view of the office. We’re getting a bit more fuller, and I suppose we have enough money to pay for the rent and the lights. We’d like some more work during these trying times.

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PETRONAS – Gas for Iran, Not?

April 24, 2010

It appears that our politicians and newspaper reports should get their facts and stances correct:

  • April 16: AsiaOne reports ‘Malaysia suspends gasoline supplies to Iran’
  • April 16: UPI reports that ‘PETRONAS jumps Iranian Ships.’
  • April 17: A local rag reports that ‘KL warns Teheran after cutting off supply.’
  • April 18: Oh, was it a single spot sale that was stopped? Reported in the above local rag.

 Maybe the local Iranian students should surround the PETRONAS embassy, to scare them into reporting a fact, and just one fact.

Anyhow, al-Jazeerah reports the Chinese stepped into the breach and increased their supply of gasoline.

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Tales from the Engineering Floor – Sorry, We’re Flooded

April 23, 2010

After paying our pound of flesh, we expected a vendor to send us a software lease license post haste. After waiting for a few days, we asked the vendor why the license hadn’t shown up yet.

Their response? Their server room was flooded, so they weren’t able to pull up their records and send us our purchase.

For want of a drain hole, a week’s worth of time was lost.

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